Population Status of the Illinois Chorus Frog (Pseudacris

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Population Status of the Illinois Chorus Frog (Pseudacris U ILLINOI S UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN PRODUCTION NOTE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Large-scale Digitization Project, 2007. Population status of the Illinois chorus frog (Pseudacris streckeri illinoensis) in Madison County, Illinois: Results of 2001 surveys IDOT CONTRACT 1-5-90179 FINAL REPORT ON 2001 RESULTS John K. Tucker Center for Aquatic Ecology Illinois Natural History Survey Great Rivers Field Station 8450 Montclaire Avenue Brighton, Illinois 62012 January 2002 I J. K. Tucker Principal Investigator Center for Aquatic Ecology Illinois Natural History Survey DISCLAIMER The findings, conclusions, and views expressed herein are those of the researchers and should not be considered as the official position of the Illinois Department of Transportation. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SUPPORT This research (contract number 1-5-90179) was funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation. ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A study of the biology of the Illinois chorus frog, Pseudacris streckeri illinoensis, is reported. Surveys of Madison County for choruses of the frogs located nine choruses in 2001. Eight of these choruses were located at the same sites that choruses were found in 2000. One new site was found where frogs were calling in 2001. The bulk of the study was conducted using drift fences at the wetland mitigation area adjacent to Sand Road in Sec. 19, T4N, R8W. The primary purpose of the 2001 study was to examine spatial variation in use of the mitigation area by the Illinois chorus frog and to estimate population size and density at the mitigation area. I estimated population size using recaptures of frogs previously marked. Lincoln-Petersen index estimate of population size based on recaptures of previously marked frogs was about 70 frogs for both sexes. This estimate is about one- sixth of the 1999 estimate possibly due to unfavorable recruitment in 2000. The apparent reduction in frog numbers was not due to activities associated with wetland restoration. However, had the wetland project not been completed the frog populations may have been even more adversely impacted by the drying of the wetland area. I found the first evidence of surface activity among adult frogs outside of the breeding season. A single frog was collected in September of 1998 suggesting that monitoring of drift fences year-round is important. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Title and Signature page DISCLAIMER ............................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SUPPORT.............. ..... ,....,.. S..ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................... .,........... .iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................... ........... °,, S.iv LIST OF TABLES.......................... ............. ° S... v LIST OF FIGURES ........................ ..........,•, ..vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................ ... •.......... vii INTRODUCTION............................ CHORUS LOCATIONS IN THE SAND ROAD STUDY AREA ........ ...2 Materials and Methods ................ ........•o.•... ..2 Results and Discussion................ ..........°•., . .2 POPULATION SIZE ESTIMATES............... ............. , .. 4 Materials and Methods ................ •............. ..4 Results and Discussion................ ......... ,.... SUMMARY ................................ .......... ,... .6 LITERATURE CITED ....................................................... 7 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: All Illinois chorus frogs collected between 1996 and 2001.....5 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Sand Road study area showing the location of the wetland mitigation area and known choruses of the Illinois chorus frog (Pseudacris streckeri illinoensis)...................................... .3 vi Figure 1 Scale = 0.8 km North Levee road Rose historical site -1 Wanda Rd trailer park 1 Old Poag Road krea enlarged (10CU Streetcar Road CO, Sand prairie chorus (U) below SandRoad - I Hartzell Rd Greenhouse p-- Sand Road > ! _i ______ Chain of Rocks Road ------------------------------ North t =Chorus Sand Streetcar Road Road Morris historical site Trailer park Brockmeier chorus Site colonized Greenhous e in 2001 Greenh. < -Hartzell Rd Mitigation area -!j Sand Idle Acres chorus Road Scale = 0.8 km ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank G. B. Rose, M. M. Tucker, and D. Warner for field assistance. L. E. Brown provided many useful suggestions concerning the biology of the frog and helped with literature needs. G. E. Kruse provided permits necessary for this project. vii INTRODUCTION The Illinois chorus frog, Pseudacris streckeri illinoensis, is restricted to the floodplains of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers in Arkansas, Illinois, and Missouri (Conant and Collins, 1991). The frog is listed as a threatened species in Illinois (Herkert, 1992), as a rare species in Missouri (Anonymous, 1992), as a species of special concern in Arkansas (R. Roberg, pers. comm.), and as federal C-2 species (Dodd et al., 1985). This highly fossorial frog occurs in Illinois mainly along the central part of the Illinois River (Smith, 1951, 1961, 1966; Morris and Smith, 1981; Taubert et al., 1982; Brown and Rose, 1988; Morris, 1990; Beltz, 1991 and 1993). Other populations are, also, scattered along the Mississippi River from Madison to Alexander Counties, Illinois (Holman et al., 1964; Brown and Brown, 1973; Axtell and Haskell, 1977; Morris and Smith, 1981; Taubert et al., 1982; Gilbert, 1986; Brown and Rose, 1988; Morris, 1990; Beltz, 1991 and 1993; Tucker and Philipp, 1993; 1994; 1995; 1996). Several previous publications and unpublished reports provide details on the life history of P. s. illinoensis including information on underground feeding behavior (Brown, 1978), burrowing behavior (Axtell and Haskell, 1977; Brown et al., 1972; Tucker et al., 1995; Tucker, 1995), chorus sites (Brown and Rose, 1988; Tucker, 1998), fecundity (Butterfield et al., 1989; Tucker and Philipp, 1995; Tucker, 1997a), post-metamorphic growth (Tucker, 1995; Tucker and Philipp, 1995), morphology of newly transformed froglets (Tucker, 1997b); food habits (Tucker, 1997c), thermobiology (Packard et al.. 1998), and morphological adaptations to fossorial existence (Brown and Means, 1984; Paukstis and Brown, 1987 and 1991). The present report is a summary of results for 2001 and a continuation of studies initiated in 1993. This year's activities carried forward objectives from previous years and include an analysis of the impact of the wetland mitigation area. My objectives were: 1. Monitor the distribution of P. s. illinoensis choruses in appropriate habitat in the impact area. 2. Estimate the approximate number of P. s. illinoensis located on the wetland mitigation area. CHORUS LOCATIONS IN THE SAND ROAD STUDY AREA MATERIALS AND METHODS Monitoring of chorus locations in the Sand Road study area (Fig. 1) began on February 16, 2001. The methods used and sites visited were reviewed in previous reports (i.e., Tucker and Philipp, 1996). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In 2001, a total of nine choruses were located (Fig. 1). Eight of these locations were sites of choruses in previous years. One new chorus site was found in 2001 (Fig. 1). Figure 1. Sand Road study area showing the location of the wetland mitigation area and known choruses of the Illinois chorus frog (Pseudacris streckeri illinoensis) in Madison County, Illinois. Figure 1 Scale = 0.8 km North Levee road • ee\ Rose historical site ,A SWanda Rd trailer park -ci Old Poag Road Area enlarge e d ct~ Sand praiirie chorus I Streetcar Road (I) _ _ _ __ below SandRoad --- <- .----- Hartzell Rd Greenhouse Sand Road I / I I Chain of Rocks Road' North = Chorus Sand Streetcar Road Road Morris historical site ,A. Trailer park - - Brockmeier chorus Site colonized -i __Genu in 2001 Greenhouse '-Hartzell Rd Mitigation area Sand Idle Acres chorus Road AD Scale = 0.8 km Generally, chorus sites have been stable in the general study area from 1994-2000 with no indication of recolonization of distant sites where this species is thought to have been extirpated (Tucker and Philipp, 1995; Tucker, 1998). This year's results marked a departure from previous years results with the discovery of a new chorus site. This site occupies a borrow pit created in 1997-1998. The borrow pit is located just south of Streetcar Road and just north of the wetland mitigation site. Likely frogs that colonized this site came from the wetland mitigation area. POPULATION SIZE ESTIMATES MATERIALS AND METHODS Population size estimate was made using the Petersen method as modified by Bailey (1951) for estimates of population size when number of recaptures were small (Donnelly and Guyer, 1994). Standard error of was not calculated due to the small number of captures in 2000 and 2001. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Petersen estimate of population size was 70 total frogs based on recaptures of previously marked frogs (Table 1). The 2001 estimate was only one-sixth of the estimate made in 1997 of about 455 adults (the highest population recorded). Apparently, unfavorable rainfall in the summer and fall of 2000 reduced recruitment in this species. This conclusion is supported by the few captures made in 2000 and 2001 compared to previous years (Table 1). Nonetheless, the number of frogs cought in 2001 was 6 times higher than the few frogs caught in 2000. This suggests that recruitment from year to year is important in maintaining populations sizes (Tucker, 1995; 1998). Table 1. Number of Illinois chorus frogs caught from 1996 to 2001. Total number Year of frogs males females 1996 60 31 29 1997 86 47 39 1998 22 13 9 1999 151 78 73 2000 2 0 2 2001 12 5 7
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